Space Shuttle Endeavour rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)
to Launch Pad 39B early today to begin final preparations for the launch of
NASA’s STS-108 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), scheduled
for Nov. 29.
The crawler-transporter carrying the orbiter Endeavour, the twin Solid
Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the External Tank (ET) departed the VAB early
this morning and was hard down on the pad by mid-morning.
Endeavour spent the past week in the VAB undergoing space vehicle interface
tests after the Orbiter was mated to the SRB/ET assembly stacked on the
Mobile Launcher Platform.
Space Shuttle Endeavour remains on schedule for the 12th mission to the ISS,
which will feature the third on-board crew exchange, with Cosmonaut Yury
Onufrienko and Astronauts Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch replacing the
Expedition 3 crew of Astronaut Frank Culbertson and Cosmonauts Mikhail
Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov after their four-month stay on orbit.
Endeavour, making its 17th space flight, also will deliver more experiments
and supplies aboard the Raffaello Multi Purpose Logistics Module and will
carry 6,000 American flags to be presented to the families of the victims of
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
STS-108 is commanded by Dominic L. Gorie. Crew members are Pilot Mark E.
Kelly and Mission Specialists Linda M. Godwin and Daniel M. Tani.
